IN SMALLVILLE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM
by David Anakin
Summary: A SPACESHIP CRASHES NEAR TOWN. WILL LEX AND CLARK BE ABLE TO STOP THE ALIEN MENACE BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.


IN SMALLVILLE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM

BY DAVID ANAKIN

DISCLAMER: Smallville belongs to the WB. Aliens belongs to 20th Century Fox. None of the other TV shows or movies mentioned in this story are mine. If some of the names same familiar it's because I took them from the Alien movies. I guess that covers everything. This story takes place before Lionel goes to prison. Now. On with the story……

You could almost smell the tension in the air, Clark Kent thought as he looked for his history notebook in his school locker. Looking around, he could see everyone was on edge. And it wasn't just the school. The whole town was like this. The night before last a meteor had fallen a few miles outside of town. In every face he saw the same thought, Oh God not again. After the meteor shower some scientists said that what Smallville experienced could be the beginnings of an event that would not only destroy the town, but perhaps the state. Other scientists said there was nothing to worry about. The odds of another shower hitting Smallville or anywhere in the US were so small that it wasn't worth worrying about. Of course, many of those same great men of science also said there were no other life near the Earth, and even if there was it would be impossible for them to get here. Clark remembered he had given his notebook to Pete. Before he could close his locker, Chloe popped up and slammed it shut for him. It was so quiet in the hallway that it sounded like a gunshot. Everyone hit the floor. When they saw who was the cause of the noise they give her dirty looks.

"Clark!" she wasn't paying the killer looks any mind, "What are you doing after school?"

She was the only person he had seen all morning who was smiling. "May go to the Talon for awhile. Chores, dinner, homework, more chores. Why?"

"I've got something to show you. It's about the thing that dropped out of the sky. You're not going to believe it!"

Clark could tell she had something big. Wall of weird big. She had the same look that Tom got when he thought he was about to catch Jerry. Which meant Chloe was about to get hit over the head with some heavy household appliance. Which meant Clark was going to have to save her. Maybe from herself.

Lex Luther looked down on the impact site. It was only called that as far as the public was concerned. It was really a crash site. But what had crashed was hard to tell.

"Musta been doing super sonic when it hit." One of the pilots said over the headphones. Lex was only able to get this look at the site because of a high-ranking 'friend' and then only if he agreed to keep his mouth shut. But if there's one thing a Luther knows, it's how to keep a secret. It's not the only thing they know, but it's in the top ten. He was one of a dozen men in the chopper and dressed in the same camos as the rest of them. "It's not one of ours." Said the officer in charge, Cpl. Hicks. The only one who knew who Lex really was. It was part of his job to make sure Lex didn't see too much. Lex took a small camera out of his boot and snapped a few quick shots. The chopper's side doors were already open so he had to hold the camera low so no one would see it. He shoved the camera back in his boot when someone tapped him on the back of his helmet.

"Weirdest thing you ever saw huh?" asked a soldier who had the look of a weekend warrior, a plain looking guy who just joined to say he did it.

"Yea." Was all Lex said. He didn't want anyone remembering his face.

"When are Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones gonna show up?" Another in the group asked. This little joke got a small laugh out of most of the men. It must have been the tenth time someone asked it.

"The next time one of you guys make a remark like that will find himself court-martialed!" yelled Hicks, "This is just some old satellite. Nothing more." This last seemed to be directed at Lex. Lex just smiled his innocent smile and returned his attention to the ground. That was not very subtle he thought. The possibility that it was a UFO was what brought Lex out here. He hoped it was the same one his father claimed Dr. Hamilton had. But now that he was here, he could see it wasn't. This was much larger than the one his father described. The chopper landed and Lex was one of the first out. Swinging his empty rifle (They didn't seem to trust him, go figure.) over his shoulder and camera carefully hidden in the palm of his hand, he made his way to the crash. An hour or so later he saw a pair of GI's lifting a gurney with a large body covered with a blanket. Lex couldn't help but snicker when they loaded it into a UPS truck.

"This would make a great X-Files episode." He said under his breath. He was about to try to take a picture of whatever was inside the van when he was suddenly spun around. Lex found himself face to face with his army keeper.

"You were to stay close to me Mr. Luther. This is a crash site and we wouldn't want you getting hurt." He said making it clear he didn't really care.

"Shouldn't we be doing this at night, with a man overseeing everything while smoking a cigarette?" Lex asked putting his hands (and camera) behind his back.

Hicks only smiled, " There's a very deep hole here. And with all these uniforms, no one would notice if one of them went missing."

"What? No court-martial?" Lex made a disappointed sound, "And I was looking forward to getting one. I have the first and second seasons of JAG on DVD."

"I'm sure a military court is the only kind you haven't been in. And I'll take that camera."

Lex knew there was no point to trying anything. Hicks looked as if he was hoping Lex would. So smiling his most shy smile he handed it over. His keeper looked at it a moment, dropped it, and stepped on it.

"Oops" He said then called a guard, "Find a jeep and take this guy back to the base. Put him in my office and make him wait 'til I get back. If he gives you any trouble, shoot him."

Lex's keeper left to check on the recovery and cover up. Lex was happy to follow the wanta-be GI Joe as he looked for a jeep. He wanted to get the film from the real camera developed.

Both Clark and Pete were already at the Torch when Chloe came bouncing in. Clark was sure right then he was in trouble. She stood in front of the two of them and held up a videotape.

"This isn't that tape that after you watch it, seven days later you die? Is it?" Pete asked, "If it is, I saw it last week." Pete had been making that joke ever since the movie came out. One more week of this, Clark thought. And Pete would die!

"No." Chloe said pretending she didn't hear the joke. "It's a copy from a patrol car that went to investigate the whatever it was that fell out of the sky that night."

"Your use of the term 'whatever' makes me think you don't think it was a meteor." Clark said.

Chloe give Clark a short mock applause, "You may have a career in journalism yet. All the news showed was a big light falling far away. No details at all. Isn't that little odd? Have you seen any footage of the site itself?"

"They're worried about radioactivity." Pete said, "Once it's safe, I'm sure everyone will be taking pictures."

"You're so cute when you're being naive." Cloe said pinching Pete's cheek. She let go and went to the TV, "Just look."

On the screen they saw the highway speeding by. It was almost as if they were inside the car. Having seen many episodes of Cops both boys knew what they were seeing. There was some time data across the bottom, so it was taken the night the meteor came down. Infact, if the time was right it should be coming down any minute. As if on cue, there was a flash of light. The car swerved alittle but the driver got control.

"Holy shit!" one of the officers yelled.

As the car slammed on brakes and pulled over another voice asked, "Was that plane?"

"Don't think so." Answered the first voice, "Call it in. Let's try to find where it went down. Looks like it went down a few miles away. I don't think it was a meteor, I was here the first time so I'll never forget what they looked like."

Clark noticed Chloe's smug look when this was said.

On the screen, the second officer was calling in and the car was back on the road. The only light came from the headlights, but Clark thought he knew some of the landmarks. The car turned down a dirt path and the picture turned to static. When it came back the car was going toward a forest fire. The time was almost an hour later. Cloe pushed pause.

"Don't tell me." Clark said, "This is proof of Missing Time."

"No." Chloe wasn't amused, "My friend did some editing. He said it was to fit it on one tape, but I think he didn't want me to try to find the site myself."

"Nice to know I have some help keeping you out of trouble." Clark half joked.

"Keep watching." Chloe pushed play.

On screen, the car had stopped. One of the cops called in their location, which was drown out by a bust of static supporting Chloe's theory. There were the sounds of doors opening and closing. One of the officers passed in front of the car. The engine was still running & the sounds of the fire made it hard to understand what was being said. There was a low hiss that seemed to be coming form behind the car. At first it sounds like the car had a flat but then it grew into a growl. The officers must have hared it to, they were looking around with their guns drawn. The youngest of the officers looked at the camera. Even though it was a black and white picture, Clark could see the color drain from his face. There was something behind the car, something so horrible the man looking at it screamed and ran off without firing a single shot. This was when the other officer turned. He didn't get a chance to scream as the something jumped over the car and tackled him to the ground. It happened fast but they all could see the outline of it against the fire. It had a thin body and a long tail! There were some slashing and muffled cries, then quite. It rose up in front of the car. Chloe pushed pause so they could get a good look at it. What they saw like something out of a nightmare. It had a long slightly curved head, with no eyes that they could see. It's mouth was full of sharp teeth, and dipping with what was no doubt drool and blood. One hand was raised so they could see it looked more like a claw. Chloe pushed play and the creature went after the man who ran. The tape ended there and Chloe turned off the TV.

"You didn't pay for that did you?" Pete asked, "The Alien Autopsy video was more interesting than that."

"No, he give it to me. I've been looking at it most of the day, and it's passed every test I put it through."

"Don't you think someone could fool a high school news reporter?" Clark asked. "If it's real, why did he give it to you? Why not sell it to the tabloids or the WB? They'll show pretty much anything."

After a long pause, Chloe said, "He's not sure it's real either. And either way, he didn't want to put himself or his family in danger. The two cops on the tape didn't show up for work the next day. And the car was towed in, but taken away an hour later. My friend was able to copy the tape before that happened."

"So the cops are hiding out, waiting to tell how they escaped the monsters." Pete said.

Chloe crossed her arms. This was her way of saying her mind was made up, "I mailed a print to be analyzed, but it'll take awhile to get the results. I'm going to call to see if they're done."

When she was gone, Clark rewound the tape to the part when the officer called in.

"Can you hear past all that static?" Pete asked.

Clark held up a hand for Pete to keep quite as he adjusted the sound controls. He had to play it twice to be sure.

"I know where they went. I'm going to check it out." Clark said going out the door.

"Hold up!" Pete called, "You don't think you're going to leave me out of this do you?"

"Pete. It could be dangerous."

"What danger? We get there and find them making a sequel for Signs. I know the guy doesn't like people spying on his sets, but I think we can handle a few Hollywood bouncers."

Clark could see there as no talking Pete out of it, "Okay. But lets be careful."

The sun was going down as Pete drove Clark into the clearing from the video. On the way they passed a small convoy of military vehicles. They were going the other way so the teens weren't stopped. The field was empty when they arrived, but after a few minutes of looking they found where the car had been.

"Didn't do a very good job covering the tracks." Pete said.

"Must not have expected anyone to come out here so soon." Clark said. He looking off into the woods, "The cop that ran must have gone that way."

Pete got a pair of flashlights out of his car and started to walk in that direction.

"Wait." Clark said, "Maybe we should wait until morning."

Pete turned the flashlight under his chin, "What's wrong Clark? Having a Blair Witch flashback?"

Clark looked into the darkening woods without answering.

"I thought you said there was nothing to be afraid of?" Pete said.

This IS Smallville." Clark reminded, "I don't see anything with X-ray."

Pete slapped Clark on the chest, "Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll be some old guy in a rubber suit. Then we'll head back to the Talon and I'll treat you to some Scooby snacks."

Without knowing it they were walking toward the crash site. An hour or so later they hadn't found anything.

"I think I've seen this movie before. We're not going to find anything until we give up and start back." Pete said.

At that moment gunfire rang out followed by screaming. Both teens ran toward the sounds. Clark didn't go full speed because he didn't want to leave Pete behind and unprotected. They found two men lying on the ground; they had been ripped to pieces.

"What did I tell you?" Pete said between gaps.

"What do you think did this?" Clark asked.

As if in answer, there came a low growl form the darkness. Pete and Clark saw it at the same time. A living nightmare came out of the woods. As it got closer, they saw it was the same creature form Chloe's video. A thin body with a slightly curved eyeless head. It was at least 6 feet tall. It's mouth was filled with teeth that almost looked silver in the moon light. It's spear-like tail whipped back and forth as it walked.

"It doesn't seem to have eyes." Clark whispered, "Maybe if we stay still and quite it may not notice us."

Pete only nodded wide-eyed at the thing. But the trick that worked on the T-Rex in Jurassic Park didn't fool this monster. It looked right at then and charged.

"Run Pete!" Clark yelled as he charged at the monster hoping Pete would run the other way. The thing slashed at Clark, tearing jacket and shirt but not skin. Clark side stepped the other claw and backhanded the creature's head sending it back a few steps. The creature kept it's distance, maybe wondering why it wasn't able to kill this human as easily as it killed all the others it must have come across. Clark held back his attack too, wanting to give Pete more time to get away. Using X-Ray vision he was able to see that it may look like some bizarre cross between and insect and a reptile, it was unlike anything he'd read about in school. But Clark knew this wasn't some mindless thing. It was intelligent. It seemed to be making it's own evaluation about Clark. It went down on all fours looking like a bad puppy asking forgiveness. Even it's tail was between it's long muscled legs. Then with speed that Clark didn't think even he could match it launched itself at him. The impact sent both into a tree, knocking it over. The two of them rolled for a while then the creature was on top, Clark holding it by the wrists and one knee in it's stomach trying to keep it away. The monster was drooling on him and he could smell it's breath. The creature opened it's mouth and another mouth came out! This one was smaller, but had the same horrible teeth. It came only an inch from Clark's nose, biting and hissing the whole time. Clark wasn't sure how long he could keep up this wrestling match when he heard the sound of gunfire. At the same moment the creature went flying off him as if snatched by a sudden wind. The creature fell apart under the barrage of bullets screaming as it died. For a moment the sounds made Clark feel sorry for the thing, but then he remembered the two men he and Pete had found.

"Clark! What the hell are you doing here!" a voice asked.

Clark was pulled up and realized it was Lex.

"Clark?" he repeated, "Are you hurt?"

Clark was too stunned by his attack and his unlikely rescue to ever think of a good lie, "Yea. It was just swatting me around."

"Guess it's mother never told it not to play with it's food." Lex said. "So? What are you doing here?"

"We have to find Pete. I told him to run when we saw that." Clark pointed to what was left of his attacker.

"Pete too?" Lex's eyes looked like they would pop out of his head, "OK. We can talk as we search. Let's get moving, there may be more of them around."

"What are they?" Clark asked as they started out.

Lex turned and looked Clark in the eyes, "Aliens"

It was darker now; the moon was going behind some clouds. During the search Lex and Clark traded stories about how they came to be there. Lex was interested in Chloe's video and Clark knew she would want to be the first to see Lex's pictures. If Lex hadn't made Clark promise not to say anything about them. They avoided calling out too loud so they wouldn't attract the attention of the Aliens or the army hunting them.

"You never did explain how you got in on that recovery team?" Clark asked.

"That's right, I didn't." Lex answered. "It was part of the agreement. If I got caught I don't know him, he doesn't know me. I wouldn't have been surprised if I had disappeared."

Clark turned to see if Lex was kidding and saw he wasn't, "Kinda sounds like that movie with Will Smith and Gene Hackman. I forget what it was called."

"Enemy of the State." Lex said, "I never really liked Gene Hackman. Hated every character he ever played."

There was a noise coming from the woods. Lex readied his rifle, but held his fire. Pete came running out of the darkness caring another rifle and a gun.

"WOOH!" Pete called holding his hands out. "It's me!"

For a moment it looked as if Lex was going to shot anyway, then lowered the weapon.

"There are more bodies back there, so I was thinking of going that way." Pete said pointing in the opposite direction.

"The jeep I found isn't far." Lex said continuing to walk in the direction Pete had come from. Clark shrugged and followed.

Pete whispered to Clark, "Who put him in charge? How do we know he's not behind this?"

"I'm in just as much danger as you two. If you want to stumble around in the woods alone, go ahead. I for one would like to get out of here without becoming an early breakfast for these things." Lex called back without stopping.

"Unless you think you can find your car, I think we should follow Lex." Clark said.

"I've seen enough movies to know what happens to the black guy who go off on his own." Pete muttered.

The trio found their way to the jeep without incident, but Pete did shot as innocent tree when a bird flew out of it. Clark held on to the gun after that. Once they were on the road Clark asked for more details about the ship.

"There wasn't a lot to see by the time I got there." Lex said, "they were spraying everything down. It didn't seem to be very big ship."

"Maybe it broke apart as it fell?" Pete suggested.

"I've been monitoring army channels. This is the only crash site. At least in the US." Lex said.

"No idea where it came from?" Clark asked.

Lex took a quick glance up, "Up there." Then put his eyes back on the road. Lex decided not to turn on the headlights, hoping to get away without being seen. "I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone about that yet. I wanted to get to the site as soon as possible."

"How many of these aliens are we talking about?" Pete asked. He had already been updated on Lex's story.

"I'm not sure. I saw a few covered bodies being taken away. And we got some. Like I said it was small ship. Can't be more than a dozen, if I had to guess. But the ones that we've seen don't seem like they can fly a spaceship. Maybe the covered bodies were the crew. The ship could've been on the way to a galactic kennel or zoo when these things got loose."

"Or the monsters are soldiers and the covered bodies were the ones in charge of 'em." Pete offered.

"So you think the army can handle the rest?" Clark asked. He didn't like Pete's idea.

"I hope so." Lex answered, "I hate to think about them settling down and rising kids here. I may have to buy more stock in bullets."

"More?" Pete asked.

A dark form suddenly jumped out into the road, forcing Lex to slam on brakes and going off the road to avoid it. The jeep went into a ditch, just missing a tree. Lex was out with gun in hands, but it wasn't necessary. The figure was a soldier. The man looked unsteady so Clark rushed over to help.

The soldier backed away form him, "What's going on here? A school field trip?"

"What do you mean?" Lex asked coming around the jeep.

"I'm talking about her." He waved toward the woods and someone came out.

Clark and Pete were stunned, Lex bet both to the question, "Chloe! What the hell are you doing here?"

Chloe held up her camera, which had been broken. "Trying to get the story of a life time until Private Kill-joy smashed my camera. Which I'm so suing for."

"Lt. Kane." He corrected, "What's happening here is classified."

"What's happening here is running amok in the dark killing anything that moves. The public has a right to know." Chloe said.

"OH spare me the bleeding heart free press shit. Kane said moving to the jeep refusing Clark's help, "A few got loose. My guys'll take care of 'em before sunup."

"We need to get you to a hospital." Clark insisted.

"NO!" Kane leaned against the jeep resting his rifle on the hood but not letting go, "I'm not here. None of us are."

"Must be in shock." Pete said.

"No." Lex said, "It's all part of the cover-up. He's a Special Forces unit. They wouldn't have any business here if this was only a meteor."

"Exactly." Chloe said, "He was taking me in for questioning, but we got lost."

"I'm not lost." Kane hissed wiping his sweaty forehead with his free hand, "I was seeing if anyone else had survived."

"Survived what?" Pete asked.

When didn't seem obvious Kane wasn't going to answer, Chloe told the story….

She left the school feeling extremely pissed. She was hoping Clark and Pete could help her prove the video was real. But instead they only reinforced her own doubts. Well fine! She'll break the story on her own. Chloe Sullivan didn't need anyone's help. When she proved there were aliens in Smallville and doing the talk show tour her friends will wish they showed a little faith in her. Maybe she'd meet Collin Ferrell and start a whir wind romance. That'll show Clark! And Pete too. Her first stop was to talk to her friend who gave her the tape. Ben Webster. He was the supervisor of the S.P.D. garage.

"Chloe what are you doing here?" he asked when she came in.

"I want to where the tape you gave me was taken, and I'm not leaving until you tell me." She answered.

Webster grabbed her and pulled her into his office, "No one knows about me giving you any tapes, and I want to keep it that way."

"Why'd you really give me that tape anyway?"

"Because you're the only person I thought I could trust to get this out in the open. I saw the blood on the car when it was brought in. I asked what had happened and was told to keep quite about it. The Chief told me herself not to touch the car and hand it over to these weird guys when they got here." He explained, "I had already took the tape out so I copied it and put the original back before the car was picked up. Later, when I watched it, I couldn't believe it."

"Does the Chief know what's on the tape?"

"No. Look. I don't know if the tape's real or not. To tell the truth, I don't want to know. But someone has to find those two officers. That's why I give it to you. And now I want to forget what I saw."

"I want to find them to. And get to the truth, whatever it is. But I need to go where the car was pick up at." Chloe pleaded. She wished she still had the power to make people tell the truth.

"It may not be safe out there." Ben said

Chloe crossed her arms over her chest, "I'm going out there. And you're going to tell me. Or your boss may find out about your hobby of collecting surveillance tapes."

A short while later, Chloe was on her way. Ben wasn't very good with the directions and she got lost more the once. It was getting dark and Chloe thought maybe she should've waited until the next day, and maybe gotten Lana to come along. While back tracking down one dark path she heard the sounds of gunfire. Turning off the car, she grabbed her camera and made her way toward the sounds. After what seemed like hours but was closer to 20 minutes of tripping around in the dark, she'd forgotten her flashlight; she saw a group of soldiers in a clearing. They looked like they were in retreat some carrying wounded while others were shooting blindly at the darkness. At least it looked like they were shooting the darkness until some of the darkness moved. As she watched to stunned to even think about taking pictures the same creatures on her video dropped out of the trees surprising the soldiers. They killed most of the men but carried off some of the injured ones. It was over in minutes, and all was quiet. That was when Chloe remembered why she was here, and made her way into the clearing. She got a close look at the things now, and knew she'd be sleeping with a nightlight in her room for the rest of her life. It was as if gross had grown legs and gotten up on the wrong side of the bed. She made herself keep her lunch down and was glad she had skipped dinner, as she took pictures of the aliens. Then she heard a hiss behind her. Spinning around she saw one of the creatures that had lost it's lower half was tiring to crawl toward her. She backed up and fell over a body losing her camera, there was a single shot and the alien's head broke apart, it stopped moving for good. Chloe stood and saw one of the soldiers standing holding a rifle in one hand and her camera in the other. He looked at her once and smashed the camera against a tree.

"Hey!" She shouted.

The man hauled her up and hissing in her face said, "Shut the fuck up! Do you want those things coming back and finishing the job?"

He let her go, and stood back while she retrieved her camera, "You had no right to do that." She said holding the ruined camera.

"Just consider yourself lucky it wasn't your head. This operation's classified, and you're under arrest. Now you can either get moving or I'll kill you here." He said pointing the rifle at her.

Chloe finished her story with, "I decided to move. And we kept moving until Lex almost ran us over. Do you have any friends you haven't tried to run over?"

Lex ignored the question, "I think it's safe to say we've all been lucky so far. If you can remember where your cars are I can drop you all off on my way to take him back to the crash site. Unless you'd rather wait to get your cars in the when it may be safer?"

"I don't think my insurance covers alien attacks." Pete said. "We left mine at the field where the cop tape was made."

"You found it. I was looking for it for hours. I have no idea where mine is." Chloe said. "So maybe I'll look for it tomorrow. Tonight, I want to see that crash site."

"I can't believe you still want to go after what you saw earlier." Clark said.

"That IS why I'm here. Like I said, the people need to know if there are killer aliens lurking in the woods."

"No one's going anywhere!" Kane called out, "except where I tell 'em to. I'm taking all of back to the site and turn you over to my CO."

"Your CO's probability's dead." Lex pointed out. "But I'll take you back anyway, but only if you let me take my friends to safety first."

"I don't make deals. You do as I say and maybe you'll only spend the rest of your life in prison. But give me a hard time, and I'll shoot all of you." Kane said. There was little doubt he would. Lex moved closer, and Kane brought his rifle up. He still looked unsteady, but at that range he couldn't miss.

Clark was looking between Kane and Lex, but they were locked onto each other's eyes. Clark looked over at Pete, and knew they were thinking the same thing. Clark could save Lex but only by exposing his secret.

"If you think I won't shoot just because you're civilians, you're wrong." Kane said. Lex took another step closer, Kane raised his weapon, Clark readied to step in front of Lex.

Just before anyone could act Kane suddenly dropped to the ground. His gun fell out of his grip and Pete picked it up. Kane was in pain; Lex knelt next to him and shoved his wallet in Kane's mouth.

"Looks like he's having some kind of censure. Help me hold him still!" Lex called.

Pete gave the gun to Chloe and he and Clark went to help keep Kane still. Clark used his x-ray vision and saw what was happening.

"LEX! PETE! STAND BACK!" Clark yelled but it was too late. Kane's chest exploded spraying blood everywhere. Lex and Pete fall back as a smaller alien works it's way out of Kane. Everyone was stunned, but Lex recovered first. He went to get the gun Chloe was holding but she was too shocked to let go right away.

"Chloe!" Lex yells, "Let go!" Lex gets the weapon away but the small alien was already out, Clark and Pete snapped out of it and were trying to get out of the way as Lex opened fire. The little alien was too fast of Lex and scurried off in the woods. For a moment no one moves, then Lex slowly puts the rifle in the jeep.

"We got to keep moving." He says, "There's nothing we can do now." Clark was about to argue, but he couldn't think of anything to say.

"Shouldn't we try to find that baby alien?" Chloe asked.

"How?" Lex asked. "It's too small and fast to find in the dark. If we go looking, we're going to get lost again. We may not be as lucky next time."

"He's right Chloe." Clark said, "How can you warn anyone if we'll all dead?"

Clark noticed the look Lex gave him, and knew he didn't want anything about this night getting out anymore than Kane did. But why?

Lex was getting in the jeep when Chloe stopped him, "What about him?" she pointed to Kane's body.

"There's nothing we can do for him now. We need to get out of here before baby alien brings his big brothers back for breakfast. If we take the body with us how will we explain it if we're caught with it."

Clark didn't like it, but he knew Lex was right. The others knew it too. They all quietly got in the jeep.

The next morning Clark sat at the kitchen table reading the morning paper. His folks were still asleep. It was 4 am after all, a phone call had woke him up. The voice said accidents happen on farms all the time. So it might be safer to stay quiet about last night. Lex had driven them all home. Planning to pick up the cars later in the day. It was going to take awhile to find Chloe's car. She'd said she was never going to go off into the woods at night again. Clark knew she would forget the promise when the next big story came her way. Clark was the last to be dropped off. That was when he'd asked Lex about helping Chloe get the story out.

"I don't know about you Clark, but I'd rather humans first contact with aliens to be a little friendlier." Was all he said, then he drove off.

The military had cleaned up the radioactivity and were going to let the press in this afternoon. There was also a story about the two officers that were on Chloe's tape. They both die of exposure to the meteor. The families were quiet about the whole thing. Chloe would say they were being paid off. It looked like no one would know what happened last night after all. For some reason, Clark thought that may be for the best. He heard noise upstairs. Soon his father came down.

"Mornin' son. You're up early. When did you get in last night?" He asked sitting and taking one of Clark pop tarts.

"It was late. Sorry, guess I lost track of time."

"So what was more important than your curfew?" Jonathan asked half joking.

Clark looked his farther in the eyes, "I was helping Chloe with some research about the meteor shower. You know Chloe, she a real slave driver."

Chloe was in school early this morning. Lex dropped her off first, so he could talk Clark and Pete into keeping quiet no doubt, and in spite of everything she saw was able to sleep. She was at the school well before the rest of the student body, and was waiting at the door when the janitor opened it. Went she got to the Torch she knew what she would find, and she was right. The tape was gone. All mention of it had been deleted from her computer. Her cell phone went off and she looked at the number before she answered.

"We found your car for you. It at your house, we had it washed too. You should take better care of your things. You have a big future ahead of you, don't blow it on something as silly as monsters from outer space." Was all the voice said before hanging up. When she called Webster at work she found out he'd quit and he and his family had moved. The guy she spoke to had no idea where he had gone but said he'd been planning to leave for weeks. Chloe hung up and looked around the office. She would call her friend she had sent the prints to, but somehow doubted they would remember them. Who ever had done this was very good, there was nothing left no leads to follow. It was a dead end. At least for now.

Clark didn't see Pete at school, so called him at home. He was too shaken to go to school so his Mom had called in sick for him. Pete didn't tell her what happened; he said they had been up all night studying. His car was in the driveway when he woke up. Then he got a call saying it would be best if he didn't talk about it. Chloe said the same thing happened to her, but no more than that.

After school, Clark went to Lex's. He found his friend in the study.

"Hi Clark." Lex said closing his lab top then getting up. "I wasn't expecting to see you today. After last night I thought you would have slept for about a week."

"Someone called me, Pete and Chloe and told them not to talk about what we saw." Clark said.

"I'm not surprised. And you think I had something to do with it?"

"Did you?" Clark asked.

"You think I would threaten my friends?" Lex answered. Sometimes Lex habit of answering a question with a question really got on Clark's nerves. "I'm not the only one who wants this kept quiet. You asked last night where the Aliens came form. I got this email today." Lex handed Clark a print out. It was two photos of a piece of wreckage. Clark could clearly see the symbols were just like the one's in the cave. Clark looked at Lex.

"I've been hearing a lot of references to the movie Men in Black. You remember the speech Tommy Lee Jones give Will Smith about how a person can handle the truth but people can't? That's what I'm trying to do. Not only protect us, but the intelligent aliens who flew that ship before those monsters killed them."

Clark didn't like it, but he knew Lex had a point. If everyone was afraid then any friendly alien may be in danger. Like himself. He looked again at the picture. The ship had come from his planet, or maybe a colony. But why were they carrying those monsters? Could Pete have been right? Clark's real father did want him to rule this planet. Maybe the alien monsters were suppose to help?

Clark stayed and talked about other things for a while before leaving. He's asked Lex how he got away from his escort. Lex told his friend he'd faked being sick and when the soldier stopped he just ran for it. That wasn't quite true. Lex did fake being sick and they did stop, but while Lex was deciding which way to run he saw the alien coming up behind his escort. He could have called out, but didn't. While the alien and the soldier were fighting, Lex jumped into the jeep and took off. He wasn't sure if the curses he heard were aimed at him or the alien. He was getting a fallen tree off the road when he heard Clark call out.

In a Lab under one of Lutercorps many holdings, Lionel watched from behind a glass wall as a group of doctors work over a burned alien body. One of the doctors came out of the air lock and removed his suit.

"I wasn't expecting you so soon sir." He said shaking Lionel's hand.

"I wanted to see what progress you've made."

"Well. Not much I'm sorry to say. If we had a body in better condition things would go a little faster. But we have gotten some good samples. It's not as good as the last blood sample you give us, but I understand that came form another source."

"Yes. So there's nothing you can do with that?" Lionel pointed to the thing behind the glass.

"No." the doctor answered, "Once we remove the corrosive elements we should be able to whip up a new batch of the formula."

Lionel looked at him sharply, "Whip up a new batch? This isn't lemonade you're making here."

The doctor looked embarrassed for a moment, "Sorry sir. Sometimes we get a little punchy down here. I can have a full report sent to your office."

Lionel had already turned away, walking over to a large door. "You do have this."

"Yes. It's been on ice since it arrived. I'd like to do more tests before we bring it out. And set up a secure place once it's left the host."

"Let me see it." Lionel ordered.

The doctor punched in his code without a word. He knew better. The door opened and once the fog cleared they were looking at a single egg. It was on top of a table enclosed in a glass box.

"We'll have to hurry. Even at near freezing it's still developing. Too bad it was the only one that could be recovered."

"With a little luck," said Lionel looking at his prize, "one is all we'll need."

THE END


End file.
